Residents hope Smithfield Foods sale won't mean local changes

SMITHFIELD — Some Smithfield residents were apprehensive after they learned that Smithfield Foods shareholders had overwhelmingly approved the sale of the company to Chinese pork giant Shuanghui International on Tuesday. Many expressed concerns about possible changes to local operations now that ownership is moving out of town.

The $4.7 billion sale, which has been pending for months as it cleared regulatory hurdles, represents the largest-ever purchase of an American company by a Chinese company. Smithfield Foods was started in the town by the Luter family in 1936 and has since grown to be the world's largest pork producer.

Smithfield Mayor Carter Williams said both Shuanghui and Smithfield Foods have assured him that no operations in the town would change, but noted that change over time is inevitable.

"There's only two things that are sure: death and change. We just hope that the change is going to be for the better," Williams said. "It's a wait-and-see game at this point."

Mary DePlatchett, who has lived in Smithfield for 10 years, said the town would lose a lot if Smithfield's operations went elsewhere.

"The whole town is based on the history of ham and the fact that the Luters have taken such an interest in the town," DePlatchett said. She said the company and the Luter family helped build the town through major philanthropic donations, including parks that DePlatchett frequents. "The Chinese don't have any special love for the area like the family-owned business does."

DePlatchett said the financial effect on local employees, residents and Isle of Wight County would be huge if large parts of the company were relocated. Smithfield Foods and its subsidiaries represent a huge chunk of Isle of Wight's tax base – almost $1 million in fiscal year 2012.

Many local shop owners, Smithfield Foods employees and people with ties to the business declined to comment on the sale of the company that has defined the town for nearly eight decades. Many who would comment simply hope the sale doesn't mean lots of ground-level shifts.

"I don't have a problem as long as they don't do a whole lot of changing," said James Godwin, who works on the killing floor at the Smithfield plant.

Joyce Anderson, another plant employee, said she wasn't concerned about the effects of the sale. "It's all right with me as long as I keep my job," Anderson said.

Shirley Beale, a retired teacher who has lived in Smithfield for six years, said she was skeptical of assurances that everything would remain as it was before the sale.

She also has concerns about blemishes on Shuanghui's food quality record. Two years ago, a Shuanghui subsidiary was found to be producing pork containing a chemical called clenbuterol, which is banned in food production in China and the U.S.

"It's just the whole idea of being owned by a Chinese company that has some sketchy food safety history," she said.

Kati Naatus, who lives in neighboring Carrollton, is also worried about the food safety and called the sale "a shame."

"We would have hoped for it to stay American-owned," she said.

After hearing about the shareholder vote, Smithfield Flags owner Bill Blevins hung three large Chinese flags in the window of his shop in downtown Smithfield.

Blevins, who declined to comment on the sale itself, said it was meant as a joke. He said he ordered a half-dozen Chinese flags when he first heard of the sale and noted that customers haven't exactly been clamoring for them.